Ida Chong

A photograph of Ida Chong’s grandmother and grandfather and their children taken in Cumberland, circa 1926. Her father is second on the right. (Photo courtesy of Ida Chong).

Ida Chong (the smallest child, holding Mother’s hand) as an infant with her siblings and her mother and father in Victoria. Circa September 1958. (Photo courtesy of Ida Chong).

Ida Chong is a certified general accountant and was a partner in an accounting firm for twenty years in Saanich. She entered electoral politics in 1993 when she was elected as a councilor in the District of Saanich. In 1996 she moved into provincial politics and was elected as the B.C. Liberal M.L.A. (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head. She, along with Jenny Kwan (N.D.P.), were the first Canadians of Chinese heritage ever elected to the provincial legislature. Ida Chong has held numerous positions in Cabinet and was named Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation on September 5, 2012.

Ida Chong’s grandfather was born in China and first came to Canada in 1892. Her father, Peter, was born in Cumberland in 1917 and her mother, Yoke Yee, arrived from China in 1952.

As a child, Ida Chong lived in Victoria’s inner city near Chinatown, and attended the Chinese Public School for a number of years before moving with her family to the Gordon Head area of the city. Her father was active in the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (C.C.B.A.) and the Lung Kung association.

Ida Chong sitting between her two brothers (back row), February 1969. (Photo courtesy of Ida Chong).

Ida Chong after winning her seat in the 1996 provincial election, with her father, Peter, and her mother Yoke Yee. (Photo courtesy of Ida Chong).

Ida Chong with her mother attending the Qing Ming ceremonies at the Chinese cemetery at Harling Point, 1999. (Photo courtesy of Ida Chong).